Recent events have lead some to say so.
Key Terms: regulatory capture, interest groups, regulatory agencies, lobbying
- Regulatory capture may be responsible for Boeing's recent problems.
- Bad dog: When the regulatory watchdog gets captured by big business.
- The FAA Has Always Played Cozy With the Aviation Industry.
From the last article:
The FAA is unusual among federal agencies because it was originally established to regulate and promote an industry. This fostered the unusually cozy relationship between regulators and business that has persisted to the present, even as the agency’s official mandate became exclusively focused on safety beginning in the 1990s.
The idea of a federal regulator for aviation first took shape with the Air Commerce Act of 1926. This law empowered the secretary of commerce to issue and enforce traffic rules, certify aircraft, improve air safety and investigate the cause of accidents.
But the language of the legislation made clear the main objective was “to encourage air commerce by attracting capital, creating appropriate laws, and establishing civil airways and navigational facilities.” By the 1930s, the “Bureau of Air Commerce” had helped foster the rise of the aviation business.
For more:
- Wikipedia: FAA.
